Trojan War (Story of Troy)

                                                           The Story of Troy 

Reason for Trojan War

The Trojan War was caused by the abduction of Helen, wife of Menelaus the King of Sparta, by Paris, a prince from Troy. The leaders of the 164 kingdoms of Greece rallied to the call by Menelaus to avenge this shameful wrongdoing, having sworn on oath to do so at the time of Helen’s betrothal to Menelaus.

Greeks set sail for Troy

A fleet of 1186 galleys containing more than 100,000 Greek warriors armed to the teeth set sail for Troy to get Helen back. Hers was truly “the face that launched a thousand ships”. The Greek coalition was commanded by Agamemnon, King of Mycenae and brother of Menelaus. If, during this expedition, the Greeks managed to gather a little booty, trash a few cities, knock out the stronghold of Troy and get a foothold on the fertile shores of Anatolia, so much the better.

Trojan War begins

The Greeks beached their ships and attacked Troy at once but the Trojans were every bit their equal in valor and numbers and the enormous, strong walls of Troy proved a formidable obstacle. The Trojans were not alone – the Carians, Lycians, Myciatians and armies from many other Anatolian nations joined in the struggle against the Greeks. For nine long years the Greeks besieged Troy and battles raged across the plain, without result. Many of the bronze-clad warriors died. The gods and goddesses were split on the issue, some supporting one side, some the other. Apollo and Aphrodite were pro-Troy, Hera and Athena were pro-Greek. They manipulated the proceedings while Zeus sat on his throne on Mount Ida nearby and watched the battles impassively.

Hector and Achilles

Sickness decimated the Greek army. Hector, the greatest warrior of Troy and their leader, was killed by Achilles and the Trojans lost heart. Then the army of Amazon women warriors arrived, led by beautiful Queen Penthesilia, and the Trojans attacked again. Victory was within grasp until Achilles slew Penthesilia, then Achilles was shot in his heel by an arrow from the bow of Paris and died.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

What to do? The Greek leaders held a meeting. Odysseus had a brainwave. Why not build a wooden horse and hide a team of warriors inside, then leave it as a final offering to the gods and parting gift to the Trojans, and pretend to give up the fight and sail away. The motion was passed unanimously and the horse was rapidly constructed.

Wooden horse of Troy

One morning the Trojans woke up to find a huge wooden horse in front of their city walls and the beach totally deserted. Not a Greek in sight. Suspicious at first, it slowly dawned on them that their enemy really had departed and the war was over. Time to celebrate! The horse, conveniently equipped with rollers underneath, was dragged inside Troy and the partying began in earnest. The Trojans were oblivious to the ominous presence of the horse in their midst. The Greek warriors, sweating anxiously inside the horse, listened to the raucous merry-making, music and plentiful consumption of large quantities of wine.

While Trojans sleep...

Far into the night when the Trojans were fast asleep, the Greek commandos abseiled down from the horse, disposed of the sentries, opened the city gates and signaled to the Greek fleet waiting out of sight on the other side of the offshore island of Tenedos. The Greek army flooded into the city and a terrible slaughter ensued.

The fall of Troy

None of the Trojans survived except Aeneas and his family, who escaped and later founded the city of Rome, as told in “Aeniad”, by Virgil, a bestseller in Roman times. Troy lay in ruins, burnt to the ground. Through the ruse of the wooden horse, the Greeks had finally triumphed. This time, they sailed away from Troy for good. The journey back to their homeland was not without drama of its own, but that’s another story.